


Different Forms of Art

by orphan_account



Series: Yogscast AU Stories [1]
Category: Hat Films - Fandom, The Yogscast
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, Hat Films, Multi, RPS - Freeform, The Yogscast - Freeform, nanosmiffy - Freeform, oh yeah this has RPS, so watch out for that, yes this is shippy, yogscast - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-22 09:00:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3723052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alsmiffy's an artist in art school, and a good one at that. But the thing is, he's absolutely <b>horrid</b> at story writing.</p><p>Nano's an artist at the same school with Smith, but she's horrible at drawing illustrations - although good at creative writing. </p><p>. . . What happens then is pretty predictable. [ Alternate Universe. I do not own the characters in this fanfic. All belong to their rightful owners. ]</p><hr/><p>
  <i>“. . . And you can’t pass because you’re shit at writing,” Nano continued.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Smith nodded, sighing at his situation. “Pretty much. It sucks . . .” He glanced at her. “So, can you help me?”</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meet 'n' Greet

**Author's Note:**

> This is an RPS fanfic. If you are uncomfortable by this, and/or are one of the people I mentioned in the 'Characters' bit, I strongly advice not reading this and skedaddling away.
> 
> \- V.

Banging his own head into the table seemed like a much better idea to Smith if he was going to actually do this for once. It was less painful, at least.

Outside the window next to his table, the morning snow fell from the heavens and unto the streets like fluff, and customers came in and out of the coffee shop, the bells above the door ringing almost constantly - the perfect atmosphere for writing. But even then, he still couldn’t do it right.

Smith was a college art student, and he took pride of that. He loved illustration, plus creating and singing all forms of music, so when he first applied for the school, he imagined he passed this year with flying colors . . . But, did he consider his shit ability in creative writing? Nope! Nada. Zip.

I mean, he _did_ have a specific talent for thinking of lyrics for songs, but that was a completely different story for Smith. Writing _songs_ , he was okay with. But actually thinking of a plot, characters, a setting, and all that was not something he was very good at.

“. . . Once upon a— No, no, that’s a fucking horrible way to start a story,” he mumbled go himself, spamming backspace button of his laptop. He groaned in frustration. At this rate, he’ll never pass this course . . . “God, save me from this hell.”

As the ginger stared at his screen tiredly, he noticed another student from his college sit down in the table next to him. Her hair was short and trimmed neatly in an almost Chinese style, and bangs covered her forehead. Probably the most noticeable thing about her, though, was that some patches of her tanned skin was whiter - vitiligo.

He momentarily glanced at her, uninterested, but he was quick to notice the clear stress in this person’s face. He snorted at this coincidence.

“Having a tough time, there?” Smith decided to speak up, looking at the stranger with a lopsided friendly grin. She looked back at him, and she returned his grin with a small smile.

“Hah, yeah,” she chuckled, opening her bag with difficulty and grabbing out a leather-bounded folder filled with many messy illustrations - her portfolio? “School and stuff.”

Smith sighed, and he attempted in typing in a few words in his document. “Oh, I know that,” he drawled out mindlessly to her. “We study at the same college; I’ve seen you around before in the campus.”

She glanced at him, her head tilted to the side, and Smith suddenly felt uncomfortable as the woman scanned him. “Same course, right?” she asked him, rising an eyebrow. He nodded wordlessly. “We’ve never talked, though . . . The name’s Nano.”

“Uh, Smith,” he answered back to her, and the back of his mind thought on how weird yet unique that name was. Maybe he could use that for his story . . . “Alsmiffy, but Smith or Smiffy is much more preferred.”

Nano gave him a nod of acknowledgment. “Understood! Nice to meet you, Smith.”

Smith eyed the leather-bounded folder with interest. He had his own one, of course, as this was an important thing to have while in an art college, but he had to admit, even his own was much more organized and neat. “. . . That yours?”

Her cheeks dusted red in embarrassment, and she pursed her lips, unsure if she should answer. “Erm,” Nano hesitated. “Uh, yeah . . . It’s a work in progress!” She couldn’t help but emphasize this quickly. “But yeah, it’s mine.”

Smith snickered behind his hand, trying to force his scarf to hide his amusement.

Suddenly, she squinted at his laptop. Smith’s heart skipped a beat, and he lowered his laptop’s screen. But it was too late. Nano had already seen his weak attempts of creative writing, and he knew he was getting it.

She cracked a teasing grin. “Trying to write a story there?”

There it is. The payback.

Smith buried his head in his hands. “. . . Yeah.” he groaned out with a huff. He glared at her pointedly. He was already miffed with himself and his so-called ‘imaginative mind’ today, he can’t deal with others mocking him for it. “Got a problem with that?”

Nano shrugged, the grin still on her face. “Oh, no! It isn’t a problem for me, worry not.” She idly checked her nails, sparking Smith’s frustration and annoyance even more.

“It’s just that I actually have a talent for writing…” She shook her head at him, simpering. “Just focus on the story, put it in words, and there you have it! Pretty easy, buuut,” She batted her eyelashes. “Seems like you can’t do that.”

Smith gritted his teeth in anger. Nano just laughed in response, and she reached over to pat him on his shoulder for actual sympathy. “I’m just kidding,” she giggled, retracting her hand back. “I’m sorry if I made you any feel worse…”

The taller one sighed, and he ran a hand through his hair. “S'fine,” he mumbled out, almost hesitantly. “Were you kidding when you said you knew how to write? 'Cause any help from an experienced writer is immensely appreciated.”

Nano shrugged. “I won’t call myself the best, buuuut, yeah, I’m pretty good at it, if I do say so myself!” She paused from her self-praise, and she tilted her head to the side. “Erm, why, exactly? Surely, you can do it by yourself . . . ?”

Smith sighed. “Wrong-o! I’m absolutely shit at it, unfortunately. And as you should know, as, uh, you know,” He gestured at her. “. . . a fellow schoolmate, one has to master all the main forms of art to pass.”

“. . . And you can’t pass because you’re shit at writing,” Nano continued. “Which is one of said main forms of art.”

Smith nodded, sighing at his situation. “Pretty much. It sucks. . .” He glanced at her. “So, can you help me?” He was practically begging now, which harmed his ego immensely, but he couldn’t let himself down. “I HAVE to pass - I can’t handle the horrible, horrible failure that might come if you don’t . . .”

“Alright, alright!” Nano frowned, looking at him with raised eyebrows. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

Smith stayed silent, waiting.

Nano blinked. “What is it?”

“. . . But?”

She gave him a side grin. “Hah. You already know me too well.” She cleared her throat. “But! You have to help me in my art portfolio.”

Smith gaped at her, furrowing his eyebrows. “What? Why?”

“Because I suck at drawing humans!” Nano insisted, huffing. She cringed at herself for admitting that to him. “. . . Because I suck dick at drawing, maybe even in general,” she repeated. “Which is horrible for an art student, you’d know that.”

Smith winced for her. “Youch . . .” he mumbled. “That’s so much worse than my problem…”

“I know . . .” Nano sighed. “So, will you help me? If you do, I’ll help you in return, give you tips, maybe even stay up all night to teach you a bit in writing.”

“Deal,” he agreed, not even getting a second thought at it. They were both in desperate situations, and possibly the only way they could solve their problems is by helping each other out. Smith saw no problems with that.

Nano blinked. “Wait, deal?”

“Deal,” Smith repeated himself, grinning. “Here, I’ll give you my number, and you give me yours, so that we can talk more about this.” He then proceeded on doing som taking his phone out of his pocket and handing it to her. Nano did the same, although slower than him.

Nano scratched her head after getting her phone back, kinda puzzled. “. . . I was expecting for you to, I dunno, think more about it . . .” she mumbled. “. . . But okay! Deal, it is.” She offered her gloved hand, smiling brightly.

Smith took her hand, which he had to note was quite small compared to his, and he shook it firmly, thanking God that he was wearing gloves so that Nano won’t feel his sweaty palms.

“I’ll call you tonight, we both know the deadline to these projects,” he explained further, taking his hand back as Nano did the same. “Until then, maybe we’ll see each other around the campus and give each other quick tips and hints.”

He couldn’t help but add a small wink to Nano, and immediate regret rushed through him. Why did he do that? What was he thinking? What a stupid move for him to do! Is the deal off, now that he did that? Oh, God, he’s so screwed.

Nano just snorted, however, and she rolled her eyes to ceiling. “Alright-o, Smithens,” she casually said. “Now, excuse me, but I have to finish this essay first!”

Smith blinked at the nickname. “Wha— Smithen—” he stammered out, but he had already seen that Nano was back to her own world, typing away in her own laptop. He sighed, and he decided to get back to his own work.

He stared at his blank document sadly for the rest of the hour, all while his stomach stirred with uneasiness. He had a feeling it wasn’t going to be that easy . . .


	2. Later That Day

Ross howled in laughter after he heard Smith’s so-called plan, and the ginger scowled at him, rolling his eyes to the sky.

“Are you serious?” the aggressively bearded man laughed, slapping his hand on Smith’s back. “That’s your plan to pass? Make some little lady do your work?” He grinned. “Honestly, Smith, I’m impressed with this! But that’s a bit stretching it, mate.”

Smith sighed, rubbing his hands down his face in exhaustion. “Listen, I had no choice—”

Ross raised an eyebrow. “No choice?” Smith hesitated.

“I-I mean,” he stammered out, correcting himself. “I had to! I don’t know anyone else who can write stories with a bloody snap of their fingers, and it wasn’t my fault this girl just happened to be in display, almost waiting for me to ask for help.”

Ross frowned, and he took a bite out of his sandwich, munching and chewing slowly it as he thought hard. “Yeah, I don’t know anyone else, either,” he ended up admitting, and he swallowed the food down. “But are you really that desperate?”

Smith’s lips thinned. “Yeah, I guess.” He eyed Ross, frowning. “What’s up, anyway? There isn’t really anything wrong with this plan.” He paused, and shrugged. “At least, nothing I myself see as wrong.”

Suddenly, the future architect’s face darkened, and he looked to his left, then right, before leaning in Smith’s ear. “I heard some sketchy things with this Nano girl, mate…” he mumbled to him as quietly as he could, an eyebrow raised. “All weird stuff, honestly - really suspicious and shit. Try not to trust her that much.”

Smith stared at him blankly, unimpressed. Two unopened sandwiches laid near his feet; he hasn’t touched his food the whole time they were here. “Like what, Ross?” he scoffed, leaning on the tree that covered them from the afternoon sunlight. “Cold-blooded murder?”

Ross frowned. “Nah, mate, I don’t think . . . She hangs around out a lot with that Lalna dude.” He folded his arms across his chest, waiting for his reaction. “You know the one.”

“Honestly, Ross, I couldn’t care less,” Smith interjected, rolling his eyes and sighing. “Lalna’s a bit off his rocker, but the girl can hang out with anyone she wants - that’s not really my business.” He shrugged. “. . . Okay, maybe it is a little, but still not entirely my business.”

“I’m just saying,” Ross frowned, taking another bite of his food. “You just gotta watch out with her. . . She hangs out with the strangest crowd.” He rose an eyebrow. “I once saw her with that Ridgedog guy, giggling and shit. That’s never good, I’d say.”

Smith fell silent. Ridge . . . He didn’t know much about the guy, but he’s heard a few things. He knew he was famous for making chaos at the most worst times, and he was sly, but clever with his pranks, which he had to give him props for.

But, either way, he didn’t care.

Smith shrugged. “So? If Nano hangs out with Ridge, I’D say that she’ll be a good person to be around. Maybe she has a good sense of humor. Ridge does the coolest pranks, after all.”

Ross stared at him pointedly, lips pursed. “. . . I don’t understand,” he muttered, looking at him all confused-like. “Why are you defending this girl you’ve just met? That’s kinda a bit unlike you, Smith.”

“. . . I dunno,” the other man mumbled, unsure of himself, too. “To be honest, I don’t really know why I’m defending her. But she seems nice, so.” Smith shrugged, once again.

“You havin’ a bit shoulder problems there, mate?” Ross joked, noticing Smith’s frequent shrugging at the conversation.

“Nah,” he answered simply. “Just kinda confused. But whatever.”

Ross snorted. “Just eat up, Smith. I didn’t bring these sandwiches for nothin’.”

* * *

“. . . You did . . . what?”

Nano flinched at Lomadia’s stone-cold response, and she pursed her lips. When Lomadia, of all people, suddenly becomes deadly quiet, you know you fucked up. “Yeah, I accepted it,” she answered nonchalantly. “It isn’t much of a big deal, Lom, honestly.”

The blonde stared at her with wide eyes, and Nano’s stomach dropped. “Anything to do with those three are nothing but trouble, Nano! _Especially_ Smiffy!”

“Smith,” she corrected her sheepishly. Lomadia rolled her eyes.

“Whatever,” the taller one mumbled grumpily, sweeping her hair back behind her. “Whatever his name is, he’s trouble with a capital T.”

“‘Trouble with a capital T’, oh, Lord,” Nano snorted. “He isn’t _that_ bad . . . Besides, he was the one that offered in the first place!”

“Which makes it even more worse,” Lom added, and Nano rolled her eyes. “Who knows what he’s up to . . .”

Lomadia sighed. “I’m just saying, he has a reputation in my high school, Nano. He was the one that blew up the science lab!” She paused. “And it was during Biology!”

Nano put a hand over her mouth to cover her amused smirk. Lomadia noticed, either way.

She huffed. “I have no idea how he did it, but I know he has always has stash of TNT and a flint & steel in him. I know this, I’ve seen it myself.”

“That’s actually admittedly pretty awesome,” Nano remarked. She always had a specific favorite for explosives and guns, but since she was raised under a peaceful roof with her only connection to those two from comic books, she have never actually even seen an actual explosive before.

Lomadia gaped at her, unbelieved by her response. “Are you serious . . . ?” she said slowly to her. “TNT, Nano… T-N- _T_.”

Nano snorted, and she swatted Lomadia’s shoulder, which as always, didn’t affect the blonde in anyway. “Come on, Lom!” the shorter one exclaimed, extremely tired of the conversation. “That’s enough babbling about those kind of stuff. Did you get the homework Professor Kirin gave us today? Can’t believe it myself.”

Suddenly, the two’s room door swung open, and Nano and Lomadia jumped in surprise. One of them squeaked in shock.

“Ooh, I heard something about TNT?” Sjin spoke up, his eyes shining. His hand was clasped around their doorknob, and only his foot entered their room. But either way, the two girls felt threatened.

Nano almost screamed at his sudden arrival. She grabbed the nearest thing (which was a pillow), and threw him at the scrawny brunet, it hitting him in the chest. He was unfazed, however, although it surprised him a bit.

“Oi, what was that for!” Sjin frowned, crossing his arms. “I just heard one of you talking about TNT and all that, and I wanted to know what this was about.”

Lomadia groaned. “Christ, Sjin, just go away! You aren’t supposed to be in the Girls’ Dorms.” She gave him a pointed look. “Did you just race all the way here because you heard someone mention the word 'TNT’?” She shook her head. “Ridiculous . . .”

Sjin placed a hand over his chest, looking offended. “What? No!” he insisted. “I was just passing through your room when I heard one of you mention it.”

“What WERE you doing in the Girls’ Dormitory, then?” Nano piped up, her eyes narrowed at Sjin. She never really trusted the guy . . . He was infamous for acting like an innocent victim, but in the end, he was the one that committed the crime in the first place.

“I was just, you know,” Sjin shrugged. “Like I said, I-I was just passing by! Greeting everyone good evening. Plus,” he added. “Zoey owes me something. She borrowed my architect book last week, babbling around 'bout building a castle one day - _bloody_ crazy woman, she is.”

Nano and Lomadia glared at him at the same time, defending their friend. Sjin faltered when he noticed this, but he decided to proceed with his excuse.

He cleared his throat. “Anyway! Uh . . . yeah. S-So Zoey got my architecture book, and I need it back for my project.”

Nano puffed up her cheeks, unsure if she should believe him. But then again, Zoey WAS talking about castle structure the last time all the girls met up… She sighed, placing her head on her hands.

“Alright, sure,” Nano responded, her voice muffled and tired. “Just do whatever. We can’t waste our precious afternoon free time with you, Sjin.”

Sjin narrowed his eyes at her. “Listen here, Nano, if that is even your actual name—”

Lomadia snorted.

“I’m extremely sick of your cool attitude,” he continued, ignoring Lom. “What’s your deal with me? _Huh_?” If he could, he would’ve started poking Nano aggressively. “Well?”

“Just get out!” Nano exclaimed angrily, and she jumped out of her bed, then running over to the door and forcing him out of their room. Sjin yelped in surprise as she slammed the door close on his face, and you could hear him huff at the other side.

The other girl started at Nano, smirking slightly. “Woah,” she remarked. “What IS your deal with him? . . . I mean, yeah,” She shrugged. “He’s a stupid twat sometimes, but he’s cool enough for me, I guess.”

Nano scowled. “I don’t exactly know . . . I just don’t trust him a lot.”

Lomadia looked at Nano, scanning her face critically, and Nano turned her head away from her. “I have to go, Lom,” she ended up saying, and she left her bed, then cautiously opening their door in case Sjin was still there. He had left now, it seemed. What a coward.

Lom furrowed her eyebrows. “Why? Where are you going, exactly?”

Nano threw her scarf around her neck from the hangers on the door, then pulling her beanie hat over her head. Although it wasn’t snowing, it was still quiet cold out.

“To the courtyard,” she answered cryptically, frowning. “I just want to take a walk around the campus - it’s been a while since I did.”

The blonde sighed. “Oh, bugger all, alright . . . Just don’t get lost or hurt or anything like that.” She paused. “And stay away from the Sirs. That’s what they call themselves.”

Nano shrugged. “Eh, sure.” Unnoticed by the other girl, her fingers were crossed on her side, concealed. “I’ll be back soon - there’s still today school, after all.”

Lom waved as Nano left without another word.


	3. The Second of Meeting

". . . Maybe I shouldn't have left Lom all by herself . . ." Nano mumbled to no one in particular, kicking off a few maple leaf hills and jumping around in the water puddles around the college courtyard. "T'was probably a bad idea doing that, yeah . . ."

It was drizzling a bit this time around, Nano was quick to realize. The tiniest of raindrops fell on her hair and on the ground, and she smiled bitterly, remembering how much she used to love the rain. That was quite a long time ago, she could recall . . .

In the corner of her eye, she suddenly spotted a hand waving around joyfully, and a recognizable friendly grin was flashing towards her. Nano blinked in surprise. She wasn't really expecting to talk to anyone else today, and Smith wasn't exactly the most likely one she wanted to speak to at the moment.

 _But it would be so rude if you just ignored him_ , the back of Nano's mind reminded her, and she scowled at her polite consciousness and mindset. 

When she looked both her left and right awkwardly, then back to the the bearded man, she figured out that he was indeed waving at her, and she should really start approaching him to see what he wanted. And so she did, walking (or shuffled, really) up to him with her hands stuffed in her jeans. 

"Erm, hey!" Nano greeted him with a weak smile, giving Smith a small little wave in return. "I, uh . . . I see you're out here, too." She made sure her tone was interested, and that she actually _did_ care about what the other was doing out at a dreary weather like this.

Smith smiled from ear-to-ear. "Yeah! I just wanted you meet one of my best mates, Ross." He then gestured to his left, where another man peeked out from the other side of the tree. Nano's jaw almost dropped, not expecting another person to suddenly pop up from almost literally nowhere.

"'Ello!" Ross waved at her, smiling softly. "Like Smith said, yeah, I'm Ross. Ross Hornby, if you'd like."

Nano nodded at him stiffly, her smile starting to drop a bit. "Nano," she introduced herself. "Pleasure." It didn't seem like it was a pleasure to meet him, and Nano herself knew that enough.

She _just_ wanted some time alone, that was all . . . But that was too much to ask, it seemed.

Ross frowned, and he glanced at Smith, unsure of how to react to her being so . . . pissy? Uncomfortable? A mix of both, really.

Smith, meanwhile, was darting between the two like an intense volleyball match. His expression was neutral, deep in thought. Nano squirmed awkwardly on her spot was he scanned her and Ross critically. 

"So!" Nano suddenly interjected from the intense staring contest in which Smith was winning, smiling painfully. "I, erm, I really _really_ have to go . . . I-I'll just--"

"No!" Smith suddenly yelped, and Nano whirled her head to face him, her eyes wide. 

"I-I mean," he stammered out, looking embarrassed. "Just . . . wait for a second, Nano."

 _Aw_ , Nano couldn't help but grin. _He's embarrassed_... But at the same time, Nano was a bit worried about what he had to say . . . 

Smith patted on the dirt in front of them, which was surprisingly dry enough for not to make mud. "Sit here for a minute, we have to talk about the agreement we did."

She blinked. "Oh! Uh, okay . . ." She honestly was expecting something much more worst than that, she thought to herself numbly, and she sat herself down on the ground. "What's up?"

Smith scratched her head. "No, I mean . . . Uh, can you suggest a plot, maybe? So I can figure this out?"

Nano snorted. "Oh . . . Well, what genre do you want to write?"

 _This might be easier than she thought_ , she said to herself happily.

"Yeah, Smith," Ross all of the sudden spoke up, grinning. "What _jen-reh_ do you want to write?"

Nano flushed red as Smith laughed joyfully. "Shut up . . ." she grumbled angrily. "That's just how I pronounce it . . ."

"John-ruh," Smith corrected her, still laughing at her pronunciation. "It's _john-ruh_."

She waved her hand around carelessly. "Whatever, whatever! Just . . . What genre?" She paused, realizing that she pronounced it incorrectly again. "Dammit!"

Ross and Smith laughed once again, this time, much louder. Some people glanced at them as they walked past, and one woman wearing glasses and a rainbow scarf giggled along with them for no reason.

Nano scowled at the ground, half-annoyed and half-embarrassed, and she glared at the two men cackling away in front of her with her arms crossed. Damn them . . .

 _On second thought_ , she thought to herself bitterly. _This isn't going to be easy at all_ . . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I updated this story . . . So have a short one while you wait for the actual main dish.
> 
> \- V.


End file.
